Introduction
Many
people make their first step into the world of budget home theater via
pre-packaged “theater in a box” systems, which usually consist of a
low-end receiver, a CD/DVD player, woefully inadequate speakers and a
weak subwoofer. Electronics aside, if you are the owner of one of these
lower-end systems and are looking to move up to a higher-performance
audio/home theater speaker system that isn’t going to require you to
take out a second mortgage, Paradigm has created the Monitor series of
speakers. Priced under Paradigm’s top-end Reference series, the Monitor
Series (not to be confused with Monitor Audio speakers from the U.K.)
features a full line of floor-standing towers and bookshelf speakers
available in several wood finishes, as well as a center channel and
two-way surrounds, both available in only black. Paradigm manufactures
a number of subwoofers, but there is no subwoofer in the Monitor line.

Consisting of the Monitor 9 floor-standing speakers, the CC-370 center
channel, two ADP-370 rear/surrounds and the PW-2200 Subwoofer, this
complete review system, strangely dubbed the System.Seven.2 by
Paradigm, carries a retail price of $2,696, depending on options such
as finish and magnetic shielding for the main speakers. Shielding the
Monitor 9 costs $50 a pair extra. With its solid build and well-crafted
fit and finish, this system looks like it is ready to rock hard, even
before connecting a single speaker wire.

Speaking
of connecting the speakers, I’ll begin first with the floor-standing
Monitor 9. By themselves, these speakers look right at home in the
two-channel system of an audiophile who has champagne taste but only a
Molson budget. With a retail price of $849 a pair, the Monitor 9s allow
the option of bi-wiring the speakers and have small gold jumper plates
bridging the connections. Because I was powering this system from my
Kenwood VR-5700 receiver, bi-wiring was not an option for me, but it’s
nice to see that Paradigm has made this available for those with more
advanced audiophile systems. These towers feature eight-inch,
carbon-infused cone bass drivers, eight-inch ICP™ injection-molded
co-polymer cones to handle the midrange duties and one-inch PTD™
ferro-fluid-damped, cooled pure titanium dome high-frequency drivers.
This fairly tall and stout speaker measures in at 15-and-three-quarter
inches deep, 43-and-one-eighth inches tall and 9-and-three-sixteenths
inches wide, with optional metal spikes to keep them firmly in place.
With a weight of 53 pounds each, the Monitor 9s are capable of reaching
down to 45Hz and go up to 20kHz ± 2dB.

For
the center and surround duties, the CC-370 center channel and ADP-370
surrounds are timber matched to integrate with any of the
floor-standing or bookshelf speakers in the Monitor line. Like the
Monitor 9, these speakers also feature ICP™ injection-molded co-polymer
cones, albeit smaller at six-and-a-half inches, as well as the same
one-inch PTD™ high-frequency drivers. This led me to believe that the
sonic characteristics of all of the speakers in the system would be
quite similar, a real bonus for suspending disbelief while listening to
surround sound music and movie soundtracks.

The powered
subwoofer in this system, the PW-2200 $799, is a monster, with a
built-in 750-watt amplifier, a single 12-inch driver and bass reflex
system with a critically tuned resistive port. While by no means the
biggest subwoofer on the block, this 69-pound sub was built to go low
and loud, perhaps a little too low and loud for my smaller (15’ x 20’)
living room. Fortunately, Paradigm has built in most of the bells and
whistles that you’d expect from a quality sub, such as a variable
subwoofer cutoff frequency (50Hz to 150Hz), as well as soft clipping in
case of huge volume spikes. Other features on the PW-2200 include
variable phase alignment, speaker and line level high-pass outputs and
Powersaver auto-on/standby, which saves you the hassle of having to
turn the sub off when you aren’t using it.

Because I use this system in my living room as both a music playback
and a home theater system, I made sure that my review sample Monitor 9s
were magnetically shielded. This allowed me to place them on the sides
of my television without the risk of damaging the picture tube. Space
is at a premium in my room and although, not the ideal position for the
speakers, it was good to know that I would not be wrecking my TV while
experimenting with the placement of the Monitor 9s to obtain the best
imaging and wouldn’t be too close to the fireplace to damage the black
finish on them.

For
rear/surround speakers in my room, I knew that a pair of Monitor series
bookshelf speakers, such as Mini Monitors or Monitor 3s, were going to
be a little small when matched up to the larger Monitor 9 mains.
Because of this, as well as an awkward room design with a staircase on
one side and a tall wall on the other, the ADP-370s were a perfect fit
for an imperfect space. With their six-and-a-half-inch drivers and
one-inch tweeters on each side that match the center channel, the
ADP-370s have optimized radiation patterns to provide a uniform
reverberant sound field and accurate full-bandwidth bass according to
Paradigm. Translation: When I cued up the DVD “X-Men 1.5” (20th Century
Fox Home Entertainment) and the THX audio demo began behind me, I
thought my head was going to explode like one of the patrons in the
audience on the “Simpsons” when Grandpa Simpson yells “Turn it up!”

The MusicTo
see how to Monitor 9s and the PW-2200 subwoofer would work as a
two-channel audio system I decided to audition some current funk/dance
music. Beginning with the modern disco band Jamiroquai, I fired up one
of my favorite tracks, “Canned Heat,” from the CD Synkronized. The low
synth bass throbbed as low as the NASDAQ in late 2002, while singer Jay
Kay’s Stevie Wonder-inspired vocals anchored themselves firmly in the
middle of the soundstage. To see how just the Monitor 9s would do
without the assistance of the sub, I took it out of the loop for
several passes through the tune. By themselves, the eight-inch low/mid
drivers on the Monitor 9s get a better than passing grade, but to
really get into the groove of dance music like Jamiroquai, you’re going
to want to keep the subwoofer in your rig.

Next came
the jazzy rocker Blood Sweat and Tears Greatest Hits (Columbia), with
the horn-filled classic “Spinning Wheel.” This silly song has always
been a guilty pleasure for me with its blaring, vibrato horns and
calliope-esque ending. This is an older recording that is certainly not
the most high-resolution track I’ve ever heard, most notably lacking
low end, even with the subwoofer’s crossover set fairly high. The thing
that impressed me most about the Monitor 9 was how each instrument was
easy to distinguish. I once took a class in music school where we were
given the assignment to count all of the instruments in particular
recordings. Not only could I hear each instrument, I could hear many of
the subtle details that each musician was playing. On this track and
even many of the other, lesser-known ones on this album, the Monitor 9s
made music that I had forgotten about become fun again, listening to
parts that were seemingly simply not there on lower-end speakers. The
only time when I lost track of the individual musical parts was during
the distorted guitar heavy track “Go Down Gambling.” This was primarily
a function of the dirty, nasty guitar tones on this lowdown dirty tune
and a subwoofer that may be a little too much for my oddly shaped room.

The
CC-370 $359 and ADP-370s $699 were getting lonely with all this stereo
music going on, so it was time to break out some DVD-Audio discs and
see how the system handled multi-channel surround music. As good as the
16-bit stereo discs sounded on the system, it was as if cotton were
removed from my ears as I spun up DTS’ beautifully recoded disc
Brazilian Jazz (DTS Entertainment). I’ve often found the all-digital
recording of modern fusion jazz (i.e., almost anything from the GRP
catalog) to be a little stale and cold. I wouldn’t classify this album
as fusion jazz per se, but the instrumentation and tones of the
instruments recall these types of recording. However, in 24-bit MLP
surround, this type of music really comes alive. By its very nature,
Brazilian music relies heavily on percussion and it seems as if the
ADP-370s rears were made to replicate the sound of shakers, wood
blocks, cowbells and any other percussion instrument that you can think
of. On the track “Rua Japeri,” a shaker moves around the room with
creative panning that didn’t feel disjointed as it moved from speaker
to speaker. Being a drummer myself, I was impressed by the realism of
the cymbal tones from high-frequency drivers. Rarely have I ever heard
a recorded splash cymbal sound so real, even on the most expensive
speakers I’ve ever heard.

After
giving the Monitors a good workout with some jazz, it was time for some
alternative college radio rock in REM’s Automatic For the People (WMG
DVD-Audio) (see review here). Not being huge REM fan, I wanted to see
if these speakers could help me better enjoy a disc that I was fairly
familiar with but not overly excited about. The combination of the
higher-than-CD-resolution DVD-Audio format and the solid performance on
REM’s pop hit “Man On the Moon.” Use of the song as the title track for
the Jim Carrey movie about the life of the late comedian Andy Kaufman
brought new life to the tune. The even, well-rounded temperament of the
Monitors suited both the music and Michael Stipe's vocals quite well.
The highs weren’t harsh and the mids, despite not being absolutely
crystal clear, were still smooth and punchy. The tone of Peter Buck’s
guitar was distinct and full-bodied like his fourteenth glass of merlot
on that flight from Seattle to Heathrow.

The MoviesOne
of the cheesiest clichés used when talking about speakers in a home
theater system is to say that they “seemed to disappear.” Due to the
fact that the Monitor 9s and the CC-370 are pretty sizeable black boxes
next to my TV, combined with the fact that they aren’t hidden behind
fabric walls, it’s pretty much impossible to forget that they are
there. But what they do well in a home theater application is avoid
calling attention to themselves by imposing their own sonic coloration
on the dialog and sound effects. There is nothing worse than when you
are watching a DVD or video and the speakers make the actors sound like
they are hiding inside the cabinets. With their very neutral
characteristics, none of the speakers in this system ever got in the
way of the audio tracks and that is what I appreciated most about them.

Starting
with one of the best comic book to big screen adaptations since
Christopher Reeve donned tights and a cape, “X-Men” has been given the
royal treatment by Fox on “X-Men 1.5.” I thought, what better test for
a home theater than to see how the Paradigms do with this film?
Beginning with the aforementioned THX intro, and on through countless
punches, kicks, slashes and explosions, “X-Men” is a film that will be
a real exercise for any home theater system, especially with the DTS
audio track available for the first time on this reissue of the film.
For the next two hours, I sat watching mutants battling each other to
save the world, forgetting about the speakers, only remembering they
were there because I was conscious of attending to them for this review.

Next up on the DVD player was “Back to the Future” (Universal Studios
Home Video). This totally ‘80s classic comedy/action/adventure film
features a cameo and several tunes by Mr. ‘80s himself, Huey Lewis.
When Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) makes his first leap back into 1955
while Doc Brown (Chrisophter Lloyd) is being shot at by Libyan
terrorists, the soundtrack on the DVD gets pretty heavy, but it was no
problem for the Monitors. From the Huey Lewis and the News tunes, to
the retro songs from the ‘50s, to Marty McFly introducing the world to
Van Halen-like guitar licks 25 years prematurely, music is a big part
of the film. Again, the Monitors didn’t flinch. The dialogue in both
“Back to the Future” and “X-Men” was clean and well-rounded thanks to
the CC-370’s even temperament and I didn’t need to ride the volume
during the quieter portions of the films, which is exactly what I want
from a center channel speaker.
TiVo and Live TelevisionI
like to take a very real-world approach to reviewing equipment, and the
most real-world application I could think of was to see how the Monitor
system performed with my TiVo in Dolby Digital recorded from my Dish
Network satellite. Like the microwave, I can think of few other
inventions that have bettered my life so much as the TiVo, so I felt
compelled to see how the Monitors handed my weekend viewing lineup,
including the U.S. Open golf tournament, “Crank Yankers” and the FX
police drama “The Shield.” By the time I get home from work, it’s
usually late enough that I have to keep things down at my place. When
watching TiVo, this means that it is very important that the center
channel be able to reproduce dialogue effectively at low volumes.

In past systems of mine that were underpowered and featured inefficient
speakers, I found myself using the TV’s stereo output to mix in the
right amount of volume. In the end, I found this to be such a hassle
that after 10 PM, I would only use the TV’s built-in speakers. As they
are larger towers, the Monitor 9s didn’t come to life at low levels as
well as the less power-hungry center channel did, but this was to be
expected. Testing both the digital and then the analog outs on my TiVo,
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could easily hear Special
Ed’s famous “Yeah! I wanna go to Hawaii” crank call, even with the
Kenwood barely pushing out any juice to the CC-370. The
Latin-influenced, bombastic opening song to my current favorite drama
on television, “The Shield,” came through crystal clear at low volumes,
and really came to life when I gave the speakers some more gas.

The DownsideAs
good as this system is at performing all of the things I asked of it, I
found it to be at its best with the volume really cranking. This is
true of most speaker systems, but when you are in the price ranges that
the Monitor series system falls into, chances are these speakers are
going to find their way into apartments/condos where opening the volume
up full throttle isn’t a option. A system featuring smaller speakers
such as Energy’s Take 5.2 or Morel’s Applause 5.1 system might be a
necessary option for extremely small rooms, where balls to the wall
sound is not a necessity. Paradigm also has smaller systems to fit in
smaller spaces.

I also found the subwoofer to be a little
slow and boomy for my tastes. I’ve become quite accustomed to hearing
Sunfire’s smaller subwoofers, and the Paradigm tended to be
fractionally slower in its response time. However, I have yet to
audition a Sunfire sub in my room with its tall ceiling, so it’s quite
possible that some of my issues with the subwoofer were largely a
result of my room’s acoustic characteristics and my limited placement
options. What I did appreciate about the subwoofer was the fact that
there are a multitude of setup options and a very functional crossover
that allowed me to finally dial it in to a level that worked for my
room.

ConclusionIt’s
easy to be jaded when you’ve listened to some of the most expensive
audio/home theater systems in the world, but the Monitor series was in
no way a slouch. Thinking back to a few “home theater in a box” systems
I have had in the past, stepping up to the world of higher-performance
speakers was an exciting prospect, and the Paradigm Monitors fit the
bill perfectly. They are versatile speakers with a great selection of
tower options and colors. They benefit from many of the advances that
Paradigm has made in their high-end Reference line, yet are easier on
the pocketbook. When it’s time to make your first step from theater in
a box to the big leagues, you can’t go wrong with Paradigm’s Monitor
series.